Young Sea-eagle owes thanks to rescuers

Every day's a fight for life in the wild. And few have the odds so stacked against them as young raptors. The survival rate for those getting to one year is about 30 percent. That's for those making it through the chancy days and weeks of life in the nest. Falling from the nest before being able to fly isn't any way to improve the odds. So juvenile White-bellied Sea-eagle above will owe thanks to several people should it survive an unknown number of lonely cold hours in the undergrowth below its nest in the Townsville Town Common Conservation Park.

Three regulars passed the bird's plight along through a series of often frustrating phone calls and discussions about assistance before Deb Carter of Bird of Prey Rescue raced to the rescue from the other side of Townsville.

She found the bird, though intially seeming healthy enough, was very thin. It may therefore have out of the nest for longer than we thought. But towel and baby blanket in hand she quickly gathered the bird up and carefully cradled it in her arms on the walk back a kilometre or so to her car.

Here's hoping for survival. It may be however that the bird cannot be returned to the nest. In which case it may end up being reared and trained for return to the wild by Deb. At least this young bird has beaten its encounter with a common cause of death in the wild. Thanks to all involved. All in all a mostly uplifting morning.